Remains of Ruin
by Katiefishfish
Summary: The demi-god world is not safe. Not anymore. Even after the defeat of Kronos, danger lurks in the haze. Demi-gods have been vanishing, picked off one by one by some strange, unseen force. They need to figure out what's going on- and fast.
1. The Start

**This story, and the plot idea, is the brainchild of me and Sydney the Sydster . Val, Dean and Scarleet are mine. Gwenith and anyone i haven't mentioned, who's not from the books..they belong to her. **

**Despite that this is obvious, the series does not belong to us, or the characters originally in it. Syd writes the odd chapters and I write the evens. It's also doubling as an RP for u, in a way, because, well..that's what we do. Enjoy~ Watch out for Val's mouth, though. She has the mouth of a sailor no matter who's writing for her. **

It had all happened so fast- no one was sure what had happened exactly but, whatever it was,it was terrifying and it came out of no where. The campers, all of them, had been at the dining pavilion. Eating. They were supposed to be safe here, there, but they weren't and several campers were paying for that now. Anyway, they had all just been eating, getting ready to head back to their cabins and sleep, when the first bullet came. Or maybe it wasn't a bullet, maybe it was a tranquilizer. Whatever it was, though, it hit a kid at the Hermes table first. He dropped face forward into his food and everyone just stared.

And then the second bullet hit another kid and the whole dining pavilion erupted into screams. It was chaos everywhere, really. They should have been more prepared, ready to fight anything but, when it boils down to it, they were just scared kids under attack. It was every man for themselves, by that point. Kids scrambling over tables while more and more dropped like flies. Some of the older, braver campers were dragging the fallen campers out with them, and everyone was heading for different places. Some shot off for their cabins, others headed to the woods but, the smart ones... The smart ones headed for the big house.

It was confusing, and, it was chaos. It only got worse when the men- masked, of course, filed into the pavilion and started dragging the left over campers out. And then they chased the others down, the ones in their cabins, trying to get their weapons, were easy to get. The ones in the forest were even easier. Only the kids huddled in the big house were safe. And even then, it was only for a short while. The men, (monsters maybe?), managed to bust down the door and filed in, Dionysus attacked back. Whatever masked figures that were still chasing down campers didn't exist much after that, and everyone set about gathering together and trying to figure out who was left- and who- who had gotten taken.

A few campers emerged from the farther cabins, some stragglers or knocked out campers were found in the woods. There were a lot left but, there were also a lot missing. One of the missing was a son of the big three, a son of Poseidon, to be exact. This is what really worried a few of the campers.

Gwenith Morgan, however, was more worried about her twin brother. She had lost him in the commotion, and, in fact, had only just recently woken up, being dragged to the big house by one of her fellow campers. Realization that her brother- or any of her plants- didn't dawn on her until she was back at the big house, where the campers were regrouping.

Chiron was speaking, talking about relocating for a time being, and all Gwenith could think about was how her brother was not here and how those people should not have been able to get into the camp where had Argus and the dragon and the harpies been- where were they and that something, something was very wrong.

She wasn't the only one thinking this, either.

Val Thomas, a seventeen year old Big three kid, (Zeus was her dad), had to be pried off the dead body of some masked figure when they found her. The girl had been hit with a bullet- or a tranq- or whatever right as she jumped on some guy. She told the campers that had found her that she was trying to save her friend, Scarlett, but, by the looks of it, hadn't succeeded. And she was pissed.

"We should be getting our fucking campers back, not wasting time and relocating." A black haired boy from beside her gave her a frown. The son of Dionysus, Penn had to agree but, didn't want to call out against Chiron. "Just because Dean and Scar are missing, Val-"

"That's exactly why we should be getting them." Hissing, the black haired girl ran a hand through her hair, leaning more onto Penn as she did so. The tranquilizer had yet to completely wear off, and, it was showing.

"Well what do you suggest we do then, Val? Run off and get them ourselves?"

"I- **** if I know-"

"Yes."

Wheeling around at the new voice, the two teens stared at Gwenith, the little redhead who just so happened to over hear their conversation. The thirteen year old was considerably smaller then the two, and she hid her face behind a dandelion she had clawed out of the ground and now held clasped in her hands. "I- He's sorry," she gestured at the dandelion as she spoke. "but, he overheard you and- if you're running away, he- we want to help."

Her grip on the stem of the flower tightened, the little girl frowning. "My twin brother is missing, too."

Val eyed the girl for a moment, before shrugging. "Fine. You can come with then. Get your stuff."

Penn could only stared wide eyed as the black haired girl shoved herself off him, turning to leave back towards her cabin. Gwenith turned to do the same.

"That- That was a joke suggestion! We can't really-"

"You have any better ideas?"


	2. Tonight We Dine in Failure

**This story, and the plot idea, is the brainchild of me and Sydney the Sydster . Val, Dean and Scarleet are mine. Gwenith and anyone i haven't mentioned, who's not from the books..they belong to her.**

**Despite that this is obvious, the series does not belong to us, or the characters originally in it. Syd writes the odd chapters and I write the evens. It's also doubling as an RP for u, in a way, because, well..that's what we do. Enjoy~ Watch out for Val's mouth, though. She has the mouth of a sailor no matter who's writing for her.**

"Well...no." Penn admitted, running his fingers through messy black curls. "I don't..but your's is a death wish, Val. As if our lives aren't already cut short by genetics..you want to go and get us killed for this." It was obvious that he hated to do it, but he was lacing his voice with a startling authority. If there was one thing he hated, it was stepping up as the leader. He was a very passive person, silently keeping his little group of four in line. It was something campers tended to respect him for, mostly because if there was no one to keep Val and Dean out of trouble..the camp would've been rubble already. He was an odd one though, completely alienating himself from the others in his cabin. Just an odd creature.

Gwenith thought he probably had his reasons for it, but she didn't know him well enough to know those reasons, and if the foliage knew anything..it wasn't telling her.

Val whipped back, stumbling under the lingering effects of the tranquilizer, but managing to keep her ground. She almost seemed to spark, throwing a rather rude hand gesture in her friend's direction. "Take it or leave it, Pennsylvania. I don't see you coming up with anything better. My girlfriend is missing. Hop to it." She stormed off towards her cabin, slipping inside. After a few minutes, she peeked back out with a half-stuffed back-pack, glaring at them.

"C'mon..keep it moving. Grab any kind of bag you can find, raid your cabins..and then hit the rest of them up. We're leaving this place well-stocked. Supplies and weapons..we're going to need them._ PRONTO_!"

Seeing as it was a bad idea to not keep her waiting, according to a very stressed-out Penn, they set to work. Each found plenty in their respective cabins, and came out with half-full bags. Or half-empty, depending on your view on those kinds of things. Val dipped into Cabin 5, snapping up anything that looked good, mainly a picture of her and Scar and a nice..pointy..spear thing. It had two ends..it was sharp. It would work. Penn, to everyone's surprise, sat in front of his bag on the ground. Pale, he rested his face in his hands and resisted the urge to cry. To scream..to break things..but he had to hold back for them..

He didn't know mow much longer he could go without order..he did so like order. It kept him sane..he felt safe in it. He had found enough anyway, and Val had snatched up his bag in passing, dropping the odd-looking spear at his feet. Whatever Gwenith found, she wasn''t sharing.

Val was apparently satisfied. She slung a bag over her shoulder, tied a bandanna around the one end of the spear and hiked off with it, using it as some kind of banner-walking stick combo. Gwenith was clutching a flashlight..and that little dandelion..to her chest, and all Penn did was take the messanger-style bag he'd nabebd over his shoulder, dutifully taking his place to the right of Val. Gwenith flanked Val on her remaining side, and the three trudged out of camp, evading the presence of the evacuating campers.

"So..." Penn, started, fingering the frayed hem of his plaid-patterned button-down. "Do we have any clue where we're going?"

Val laughed, a sound that was honestly a bit concerning only because it sounded a bit unstable..(Okay, really unstable, but we swear she's not nuts.) "Hell no. I say we just head west until something happens. Maybe some idiot in the sky'll take pity upon us. They tend to do that..maybe with misfits like us..they'll actually feel bad about it."

Then she paused, causing the other two to wander a few feet before noticing their "guide" wasn't with them. She stared at Gwentih's hand-clasped plant with hazy green eyes.

"What's this about a talking weed?"

And then the sky opened up.

"Why didn't you _tell_ me it was going to rain, you idiot?" Val screeched at Penn, as the three adoleescents huddled under the nearest shelter they could find: an old fruit stand that had obviously seen it's better days. They were all soaked, and now Val was clinging to her pack and glaring at them as lightning lit up the sky. Drenched as she was, it was hard to not compare her to a wet and angry cat, the way she was snarling and screeching..but she was obviously scared, the way she jumped and squeaked every time the sky rumbled, her fingers practically digging trenches into the cavas of her bag.

"Because I didn't know!" Penn yelled back over the storm. "Maybe it's raining because you called your own father an idiot! Ever think of that?" He glared back at her. This plan was already a complete mess...it had been from the start.

But did they ever listen to him?

No..never.

Not once.


End file.
